In response to a query “whether an arbitral tribunal can order virtual proceedings where any of the parties to the arbitration does not consent?” posed during the drafting of the Africa Arbitration Academy Protocol on Virtual Arbitral Hearings in Africa, Professor Mohamed Abdel Wahab has now published a 6-point pathway (“Abdel Wahab’s Pathway”) that may…
The recent English High Court decision in Carpatsky Petroleum Corporation v PJSC Ukrnafta [2020] EWHC 769 (Comm) provides useful guidance on the English courts’ approach to determining whether a party is entitled to resist the enforcement of an award on one of the grounds set out in s. 103(2) of the Arbitration Act 1996 (which…
Background There is much public discourse on the impact of the ongoing pandemic on international arbitrations. Commentators and scholars have provided perspectives on how to navigate and find safe harbours in the uncharted waters of COVID-19. In the “new normal” of wide-ranging travel advisories and restrictions, there is an emerging consensus to better integrate the…
Public policy defences to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards continue to generate uncertainty. Under Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”), an award may be refused recognition or enforcement if “[t]he recognition or enforcement of the award would be contrary…
It was with deep sadness and a profound sense of loss that we learned of the death of one of the world’s leading arbitrators, Van Vechten Veeder QC – more widely known as V.V. or Johnny Veeder – on 8 March 2020. For nearly three decades, Johnny Veeder lent his unique voice to ICCA’s publications,…
It is not uncommon to encounter international arbitration cases in which one party, usually the respondent, refuses to pay the advance on costs set by the institution. This may occur when that party objects to the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal or there is a risk that the advance will not be recovered after the…
The Changing Landscape of the ISDS System The ongoing global discussions on the reform of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system have been broad in scope and covered a wide range of concerns. As previously documented on this blog, the governments participating in the UNCITRAL Working Group III – ISDS Reform (WG III) have determined…
For some time now, the world has seen a rise in proto-nationalism, protectionism, and even nationalization of resources. This paradigm shift when coupled with criticism being leveled against the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) system for its alleged bias in favor of capital exporting countries, make for a dangerous combination. With the ‘return of the state’…
In a recent decision in XPL Engineering ltd. v. K & J Townmore Construction ltd. [2019] IEHC 665, the Irish High Court decided to refer a construction dispute to arbitration on an application by the defendant, K & J Townmore Construction Ltd, for an order under Article 8 (1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law referring…
In a dispute involving the Centro Brasileiro de Mediação e Arbitragem – CBMA (“CBMA”) and the Brazilian Federal Revenue’s Office (“FRO”), the Brazilian Federal Court of Appeals prevented FRO from accessing data of arbitration proceedings administered by CBMA. The CBMA, an arbitral institution with headquarters in the city of Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio…
In Minister of Finance (Incorporated) & 1Malaysia Development Berhad v International Petroleum Investment Company & Aabar Investments PJS [2019] EWCA Civ 2080 (“IPIC”), Sir Geoffrey Vos, delivering the judgment of the England and Wales Court of Appeal, addressed the ambit of supervisory relief available before the English Courts under ss 67 and 68 of the…
The proverb “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” makes more sense to some people in the reverse, and it was in fact first formulated in that way in English in the 16th Century. Its point, as we are all aware, is that sometimes we have to make a choice between two options…
Recently, the Constitutional Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (the “Court”) issued an interlocutory judgment ordering the Business Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CEDCA) to stay an arbitration and to forward the arbitration file in order to decide on a request for “avocamiento” filed by one of the parties before the Court. This…
After the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) rendered the Achmea decision, heated discussions on its impact ensued. Particularly, the concern raised on whether the ICSID proceeding provided for in intra-EU BITs and intra-EU disputes under the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”) would be valid. Several arbitral tribunals and national courts have dealt with…
Remote hearings are nothing new, but the COVID-19 crisis has forced international arbitration out of its comfort zone. Parties, counsel, and arbitrators must adapt to the new reality of conducting proceedings in the face of travel restrictions and social distancing measures. One particularly thorny question is whether and to what extent planned physical hearings that…
In A and B v C, D and E [2020] EWCA Civ 409, the English Court of Appeal issued on 19 March 2020 an order compelling a non-party to arbitration proceedings seated in New York to give evidence in support of the arbitration. The Arbitration The dispute arose under two settlement agreements between A…
In the recent decision of AnAn Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Company) [2020] SGCA 33 (“AnAn“), the Singapore Court of Appeal found that when a debtor challenges a winding-up application on the basis of a disputed debt or cross-claim that is subject to an arbitration agreement, the court should apply…
In January 2020, following the Executive Order of President Trump, the United States imposed additional sanctions targeting predominately Iran’s metals sector including copper, iron and steel manufactures (the “Order”). These sanctions were designed to expand secondary sanctions to cover new industry sectors such as mining, textiles and construction. The secondary sanctions aim to deter and…
The Paris Court of Appeal considers that the arbitral awards annulled at the place of the arbitration do not amount to a valid cause for refusal of enforcement in France. Recently, the Court specified that whether the interests at stake are international or national does not change this position. Background of the Dispute On…
During a vivid “virtual” presentation delivered by the well-known arbitrator, professor and practitioner, Gary Born, the topic of virtual hearings was addressed. Another well-known international arbitrator, Elena Gutierrez García and the President of the AMCHAM-Peru Arbitration Center, José Daniel Amado, moderated the discussion. At the outset, Mr. Born clarified that virtual hearings are not a…
Whenever litigating against states or sovereign entities – or international organisations for that matter – outside of their home jurisdiction there is a roadblock to consider: immunities. On closer inspection, immunities turn out as two roadblocks: immunity from jurisdiction and immunity from enforcement. Whereas the general assumption is that an agreement to arbitrate waives immunity…
On 5 May 2020, which tellingly was the day before the last day in office of the President of the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) Voßkuhle, the Bundesverfassungsgericht rendered its judgment on the constitutionality of the participation of the German Central Bank (Bundesbank) and the German Government in the European Central Bank (ECB)’s programme…
The Costa Rican court in charge of deciding upon arbitral matters recently set aside an award on the ground of the arbitrator’s failure to disclose a circumstance that could be found in the case file. In a five-page judgment dated June 27, 2019,1)Judgment from 27 June 2019, PH Chucás S.A. v. Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad,…
In less than a decade, the Republic of Côte-d’Ivoire enacted two investment laws (2012 and 2018). The latter one recently amended, reflects the best practices the country has learned from its previous investor-states disputes. On December 18, 2019 the Council of Ministers introduced some amendments to the 2018 Investment Code related inter alia to VAT…
